Picking up the Pieces
by Evening Rain
Summary: Sometimes things need to be broken before they can be fixed. After the disastrous mission to the Valley of the End, Konoha’s Rookie Nine watch the lives they once knew go up in flames. But from the ashes, a new, united generation is born.
1. Broken

**Picking up the Pieces**

**Summary:** Sometimes things need to be broken before they can be fixed. After the disastrous mission to the Valley of the End, Konoha's Rookie Nine watch the lives they once knew go up in flames. But from the ashes, a new, united generation is born.

**Disclaimer**: As always, I do not own the characters of Naruto.

_I'm finally back! This story has been sitting in my hard drive collecting dust for months, and I decided it was finally time to start getting it ready for readers. Please be patient, as the updates are going to be slow due to my class load this semester. As always, I hope you enjoy the story, and look forward to hearing what you think!_

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Shikamaru would never forget the look on that face when he opened the door. That image would remain scarred into his memory for all time, of a living person who was dead inside. There was so much that person represented: he was always cheerful, persistent, and determined. But now, sitting on that hospital bed, clutching a scratched Konoha headband, his face showed no energy, no hope: only weariness. Shikamaru had never realized how much strength he drew from the other boy's constant enthusiasm until it was gone.

"So, you're awake after all." His voice finally broke out of his throat, causing him to jump slightly in surprise. Slowly, the figure on the bed turned, troubled eyes meeting his own.

Shikamaru's insides turned to ice on the spot. There, trapped in those cerulean depths, lay a tortured soul. The pain emanating from that single look almost took his own breath away, and the only reason he could comprehend it was because of the ordeal he himself had just been through.

"Shikamaru!" And just like that, the spell was broken. A bright, sunny smile was pasted securely across a bandaged face, and although the eyes couldn't quite hide the sadness completely away like usual, they managed to swallow the agony that had just been reflected in their depths.

The village's laziest genius returned the smile with enthusiasm, entering the hospital room and coming to sit on Uzumaki Naruto's bed. "They said you were in pretty bad shape when Kakashi brought you back, but you look ok. Well, you know, except for being wrapped head to foot with bandages." He offered a smirk, bringing his elbows to his knees and beginning to twirl his fingers slowly, a nervous habit he had recently acquired.

Naruto gave him a toothy grin that didn't quite reach his eyes. "Yeah, I think Shizune overreacted a little," he raised one bandaged arm, gesturing to the excessive amount of bandages, and then shrugged. "Anyway, I'm a fast healer. What happened to your finger?" He gestured with his chin to the other boy's index finger, which had been carefully splinted yesterday.

Shikamaru glanced down at his injured appendage and then back to Naruto, not allowing the disbelief to show on his face. How could the blond, who sat before him wrapped up like a mummy, be concerned about him and his stupid finger? "It's nothing," he spoke softly, guilt rising like bile in his throat.

He had been the leader. He had been responsible for all of their lives. And yet, here he was, sitting among all of his critically injured friends with the most menial and minor wound of all. His comrades had been stabbed, poisoned, and beaten within an inch of their lives, and what had he suffered? Nothing but one broken finger.

Naruto nodded, noticing that it was a sore subject and letting it go…for now. Shikamaru was a little surprised by the normally hyper boy's silence, and noted for the first time how perceptive the blond could be sometimes.

"Everyone's safe," he mentioned offhandedly, and for the first time since he entered the room, a sincere, small smile spread across the other boy's face.

"I'm glad," Naruto choked out softly, and Shikamaru noted the genuine relief in the blonde's voice that almost rivaled his own. He studied the other boy tentatively, desperately wishing he could avoid the next question but knowing it was impossible.

"…And what about Sasuke?"

The smile was immediately gone, and once again, Naruto's eyes took on a haunted look. Shikamaru could almost feel the boy's pain and anguish as it radiated from his hunched form, swallowing everything in the room. Bandaged hands gripped the bed sheets as if to anchor a drowning soul.

"Yeah," he whispered softly, his voice heartbreaking, "he got away."

Shikamaru had never heard three words that said so much, that carried so much meaning and emotion. His heart constricted painfully, and he sat at a complete loss for words, wishing so badly that he could offer some kind of comfort but knowing he never could.

Fortunately, he was saved as the room's doorknob slowly turned, and two figures slowly entered the room. Glancing back to Naruto, his breath caught in his throat at the expression on the blonde's face. Those sad, agonized eyes were back.

"S-Sakura-chan!"

After one look at the pink haired kunoichi, Shikamaru knew that she knew. Her eyes carried that same haunted look Naruto's did, and the smile she offered them both failed to reach her emerald eyes. "Naruto," she whispered, shocked not only by his battered state, but by the look on his face that had disturbed Shikamaru so deeply only minutes before.

"I heard that you were severely wounded," Tsunade bustled into the room after her, trying her best to diffuse some of the tension, "but you look fine." She smiled at Naruto, her eyes filled with relief.

The blonde's hands wound tighter around his sheets, his eyes suddenly unable to meet the girl's face as pain and guilt overtook him. "I'm sorry…Sakura-chan…"

Seeing her teammate's pain, the kunoichi hurriedly plastered a smile across her face, but the forced cheerfulness almost hurt him more than the tears they all knew she was holding back. "Why are you apologizing?" She asked dismissively, rushing over to the window and pulling at the drapes almost desperately. The constant stream of babble continued to pour from her lips. "As usual, you probably overdid it, right? Jeez, you look like a mummy."

The pain in Naruto's eyes only seemed to deepen. Staring at some imaginary point on his blanket, his mind trapped in some horrific memory, he spoke softly, as if in a trance. "I'm sorry…I…"

But Sakura was determined to cut him off. "Hey, since the weather is nice, let's open the curtains." she spoke louder than necessary, her voice carrying an almost hysterical quality to it. However, as she hurriedly threw the windows open and felt the cool breeze on her face, the girl seemed to finally deflate and go silent.

And suddenly Naruto was sitting straight up in the bed, his eyes finally meeting Sakura's and his voice desperate and pleading, near the point of tears. "Sakura-chan…I…I will definitely keep my promise! I told you that it was the promise of a lifetime!"

The kunoichi had her back to him, looking quietly out the window as his words washed over her. "It's alright, Naruto…" she spoke quietly, despair filling her voice.

As he watched Naruto's face fall once again, Shikamaru felt anger and frustration rising in his chest. She was trying to protect him, to forgive him, but all Sakura was really doing was hurting him more. "Sakura!" He warned sharply, emotion overwhelming his usually logical brain, "He's trying to-"

But this time it was Naruto who interrupted. "Always," he whispered, eyes closed, and for a moment the chuunin thought he had slipped off into his memories, speaking to someone who wasn't there. However, azure eyes suddenly snapped open, piercing everyone in the room with a shadow of their old fiery determination. "Like I said, I won't go back on my word! Because that's my way of the ninja!"

Shikamaru felt a small smile tug at his lips as his friend began to finally sound like himself again. Glancing across the room, he saw that Tsunade was watching the boy with a similar expression, and in the middle of the room, Sakura had finally allowed her poorly constructed mask to crumble.

The pink haired shinobi stared at the blond, seeming to cling to his words and the hope they were offering her. Hope that she so desperately needed, and depended on Naruto for. As they stared silently at one another, gazes locking in some type of wordless communication, Shikamaru suddenly felt uncomfortable, as if he was intruding on what should be a private moment for these two teammates. However, Sakura suddenly broke the gaze, blinking slowly and smiling tentatively at Naruto, who smiled encouragingly back.

Nodding, the girl turned and walked to the door. Looking back over her shoulder, she spoke softly. "I'm sorry, Naruto. I had to make you wait awhile, but…next time, we'll do it together!" And with that, she was gone.

There was a minute of silence as Naruto sat on the bed, staring at the empty doorway. A small smile quirked the corner of his lips upwards as his thumb ran thoughtfully over the groove in Sasuke's abandoned headband. Finally, he shook himself from his reverie and glanced up at his two remaining visitors.

Motioning to the small bottle in Tsunade's hands the blond grinned. "That vile smelling concoction had better not be fore me, Tsunade-baa-chan," he joked weakly.

The Fifth shook her head, a thin, endearing smile on her lips. "Just trying to glue the pieces back together," she quipped, coming to sit on the other side of his bed. "Your dressings need to be changed anyway, and this ointment will help you heal faster."

"I already heal fast enough," the blond whined loudly, half-heartedly batting at her hands as they began to fuss with his bandages, "I don't need any help. I'm fine." Glancing to his left, he noticed Shikamaru getting up to leave. "You're fine," he offered to the chuunin, and his eyes were almost pleading. "Really, I don't mind. Besides, it'd be nice to have some company…unless you need to visit Choji or something."

Shikamaru shook his head, sitting back down in a chair near the other boy's bed. "Choji isn't allowed to have visitors yet," he explained, getting comfortable, "I can stay for awhile."

Naruto nodded, relief on his face. The thought of spending hours with nothing but memories of betrayal and guilt was something he simply could not bare right now.

The next twenty minutes were relatively quiet, as Shikamaru watched Tsunade remove soiled bandage after bandage, replacing them with clean ones after rubbing Naruto's wounds with salve. Sometimes her soft touches were received with quiet hisses of pain, but when she glancing questioningly at her patient he would just shake his head and tell her to get on with it.

Shikamaru was shocked at the extent of the blonde's injuries, and after the first three fatally serious wounds were re-bandaged, he was beginning to stare at Naruto in awe. How could he possibly be sitting up and talking in this state? He should be unconscious and in horrible pain.

At that moment, Tsunade finished removing the dressings from the blonde's chest, and Shikamaru heard her sudden intake of breath match his own. Naruto's entire chest was a mass of dark purple bruises and angry red burns. However, it was the gaping, circular wound to the right of his heart that had caused the chuunin's eyes to widen in disbelief.

Although it was obvious that this wound had been healing for quite some time, the skin was still broken deeply in some places, and from the looks of it, Naruto's chest had been punctured clean through. His right lung must have been impaled, and several ribs would have been snapped in half. But what really bothered Shikamaru was that Naruto hadn't shown any sign of this wound at the beginning of their mission, and based on how much it had healed, it was impossible that he had received it during his battle with Sasuke…wasn't it?

'_Christ, he should be __**dead**__.'_

It seemed that Tsunade's attention had also been fixated onto this wound. "Naruto, wha-?" she began, her hand reaching to bathe the area in green healing chakra, but the younger boy caught her wrist and cut her off.

"It's from chidori," he said softly, his suddenly dead, emotionless eyes staring straight ahead. "My body normally would have finished healing it by now, but there are too many other injuries to focus on. I'll be fine. Leave it."

But despite his assurances, Tsunade's eyes had narrowed, a furious fire burning in their depths. "Do you mean to tell me," she ground out in a dangerously low tone, "that Uchiha landed a direct chidori attack on you?"

"Please," blue eyes closed painfully, "just leave it." This time, his voice was barely over a whisper.

Tsunade just stared at him for a moment, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. Finally, she began wrapping his battered chest in new bandages, leaving the wound untouched as he requested.

"Naruto, you should be _dead_," she finally said softly, her voice tightening with emotion.

Shikamaru resisted the urge to snort. Well, at least he wasn't the _only_ one who thought so…

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_That's all for now, folks! Please write a review on your way out, and stay tuned for updates!_


	2. Pieces and Parts

**Picking up the Pieces**

**Chapter 2**

**Disclaimor**: I don't own Naruto

_Thank you for your patience and your reviews. Also, a brief note: this story follows the manga more than the show, as it will ignore the filler episodes and assume that Naruto will leave with Jiraiya almost immediately after healing completely. The story is designed to fill in the missing scenes between Naruto's arrival to the hospital in Konoha and his departure from the village. Please bear with me and tolerate any slight inaccuracies or adjustments I might make to the actual story line. Thanks and enjoy!_

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Kiba heaved a sigh as he shifted once again in the uncomfortable hospital bed. He had been stuck here for three days already, forbidden from getting up for any reason without supervision, even to take a simple piss. It was ridiculous. It was degrading. And it was driving him _crazy_.

The canine ninja had of course been relieved when Shikamaru had visited two days ago, reporting that all of their comrades were safe, even Naruto, who had been retrieved earlier that morning. However, Kiba couldn't deny that his true happiness had only come yesterday, when Akamaru had finally woken up.

Glancing over at his faithful companion, Kiba frowned at the heavily bandaged dog, guilt once again pulling at his heart. Akamaru lay peacefully on a pillow within arm's length of the bed, his small, white frame curled carefully around broken limbs and torn muscles. His sister had informed him that a complete recovery was still months off, but Kiba didn't mind. The only thing that mattered was that Akamaru was alive, and the boy firmly intended on spoiling his partner rotten until he was back to perfect health.

Suddenly, Kiba heard a commotion in the hallway, and his chocolate brown eyes narrowed as scurrying footsteps skidded to a halt near his room. Reaching cautiously for the kunai he had stashed beneath his pillow, the brunette tensed as the door opened, squinting to see who it was.

He was rather surprised when a flurry of golden spikes plunged into the room head first, followed shortly by the body of a rather frantic looking Naruto. Cerulean eyes scanned the room desperately, finally landing on Kiba's confused figure on the bed.

"Naruto, wha-?" He started, only to be quickly cut off by a fierce whisper.

"Kiba! Thank _god_, you have to help me! That crazy old hag practically has me under house arrest, and now she's threatening to _strap_ me to the mattress if I try to get up! I barely escaped with my life, and if they make me go back I'll lose my _mind_!" He lurched forward, grabbing at Kiba's feet like a drowning man, "P_lease_, help me hide!"

It took several seconds for the poor brunette to comprehend his comrade's almost incoherent babbling, but once he realized what was going on, and heard the distinct clicking of nurses' shoes approaching, he frowned in determination. It was obvious what had to be done: a man's freedom was at stake!

"Here," he spoke softly but quickly, snatching a photograph from his nightstand and thrusting it at Naruto, "You got enough chakra?"

The blond looked like he might cry with relief. "Of course!" Without another word, he studied the picture carefully for a moment, then closed his eyes in concentration. Kiba noted the sweat gathering over his brow as his gathered chakra: it was obvious that the other boy was in no shape to be performing jutsu of any kind, but this was an emergency.

There was a small puff of smoke, and a soft thud as a body collapsed in exhaustion beside Akamaru's sleeping form. Moments later the door to Kiba's room burst open, a frazzled nurse outlined in the doorway.

"Kiba-kun," she nodded slightly, her voice laced with anxiety, "I'm very sorry to disturb you, but Naruto-kun has gone missing _again_, and Tsunade-sama is going to _kill_ me if she finds out before I get him back into bed!" She scanned the room, eyes suddenly stopping when the spotted a young woman sitting next to Akamaru, petting his white fur gently.

"Oh, hello Hana-san, I didn't know you were visiting your brother today," she bowed again in greeting, and the young chuunin nodded back in return.

Kiba cleared his throat, bringing the nurse's attention back to him. "Well, I haven't seen Naruto since we got back, but from what Shikamaru told me, he's beat up pretty bad. I'm sure he couldn't have gotten _that_ far."

The nurse let out a sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose as if she had a headache forming. "I'm sure you're right Kiba-kun. Please get some rest, and if you see him by chance, buzz the nurse station immediately."

"Sure, no problem," he smiled kindly as she hurried back out into the hall, nodding one final time to Hana before closing the door firmly. Turning to his "sister", Kiba's smile grew to a smirk.

"Well, _that_ was close."

There was another small puff of smoke, and Hana's fierce figure was replaced by a sheepish young man. Panting from the effort of holding a transformation jutsu while his body was so weak, Naruto smiled wryly, leaning his head against the wall and continuing to stroke Akamaru softly. "Yeah, thanks. I definitely owe you one, Kiba."

The brunette shook his head, studying the blond shinobi before him. Naruto was wrapped from head to foot in thick white bandages, not a patch of skin showing from the neck down. His hair was damp with sweat (most likely from the short but strenuous trip from his own hospital room), and a loose hospital gown clung to his small, thin frame. Kiba was faintly surprised at how…fragile…Naruto looked without his usual baggy and painfully loud orange jumpsuit.

"Man," he said seriously, pinning the blond with a quick glance, "You look like _shit_."

Naruto snorted, wiping at his sweaty forehead and sitting up straighter against the wall. "Yeah, look whose talking, dog breath," he quipped lightly, allowing his own eyes to take in all of Kiba's bumps, bruises, and bandages. "You look like a pile of Kibble-'n-Bits."

Kiba, for once, chose to take the high road and ignore that one. Smiling as he made himself more comfortable on the bed, he tossed the blond an extra pillow. Fugitive or not, it was nice to have someone else in the room. Naruto caught the pillow easily, tucking it behind his back with a content sigh.

"So," the dog nin ventured, not one to enjoy silence of any kind, "Shikamaru told me they hadn't managed to kill you yet."

"Nope, still kicking," Naruto replied lazily, rubbing the sleeping dog's ear carefully. His eyes softened a bit, taking on a sad and tired look as he studied Akamaru. "Looks like you guys took a beating, though."

"Eh, you know how it goes. Some scary shit, let me tell you, but it takes a lot more than that to get Akamaru and me down. We'll be back on our feet before you know it!" He glanced sideways at Naruto, unsure if he should precede any further.

"…Listen, man…Shikamaru told me about…well, you know, what happened and all, and I, well…" he sighed, finally meeting the other boy's eyes, trying to express his sincerity, "I'm real sorry, Naruto."

The other boy remained still for several moments, his figure slightly hunched and his hands clenching tightly around the hem of his shirt. Finally he glanced up, his eyes quiet and calm. "Thanks."

They sat in uncomfortable silence for several long minutes, but just as Kiba began opening his lips to say something, _anything_, Naruto beat him to it. A bright smile plastered on his face, the blond turned back to the bedridden boy. "So," he started enthusiastically, eyes sparkling with genuine curiosity, "are you going to give me the play by play or what? Shikamaru told me you had one hell of a battle. Of course," he smiled cheekily, "I'm sure it wasn't nearly as bad as the ass-whooping I gave you during the Chuunin Exams."

Kiba let out a bark of laughter, impressed at how quickly the blond could bounce back. "Dream on, moron. These guys were insane! Kankuro bailed us out in the end, but Akamaru and I, we gave 'em a run for their money. See, it was like this…

* * *

"Did they say how long he'll have to stay here?"

"At least a few more days; Shizune wants to make sure they didn't miss any trace amounts of poison in his blood stream."

Ino glanced worriedly at the door several feet to their left, sighing as she readjusted the flowers in a small bouquet yet _again_. Shikamaru felt a small wave of fondness wash over him as he observed the blonde's frustration. Despite her bossiness and troublesome temper, Ino really did care deeply about her teammates, and her concern for Choji was sincere.

"Well, at least he's finally allowed to have visitors," the boy pointed out in an effort to be positive. Ino snorted at the attempt, the familiar haughtiness returning to her voice.

"Yeah, if the nurse would ever finish her stupid 'last minute' check up. I mean _honestly_, how long can it possibly take to check few monitors and take a pulse?" The only response she received from her companion was an exasperated eye roll.

Knowing it was up to her to keep the conversation rolling (Shikamaru really _was_ hopeless), the blonde cast about for a topic. As she fiddled with a stray flower in Choji's "get well" bouquet, she found herself smiling at a memory from earlier that morning.

"Did you hear they caught Naruto hiding in Kiba's room _again_? This time he was disguised as a nurse, but I guess those ridiculous pigtails gave him away. "

Shikamaru snorted, leaning tiredly with one foot propped against the wall. "Again? That's the third time this week. You'd think the guy would find a different hiding place."

"Yeah, well I heard those two have really hit it off. I was kind of surprised actually, considering how much they always bicker when they're together."

The other boy didn't even bother pointing out that Naruto and Sasuke had never really seemed to get along either; the raven's name was quickly becoming taboo within the hospital walls. Instead, he let out a wide yawn and shrugged his shoulders. "I think it's good they've been talking; Naruto needs all the friends he can get right now."

"Have you noticed how different Naruto seems lately?"

"How do you mean?" The boy's thoughts drifted momentarily to the empty, lifeless cerulean eyes that had been haunting his dreams lately. But Ino hadn't seen that side of Naruto; how could she possibly know?

The kunoichi shrugged hesitantly. "Oh, I don't know…it's just that, in school he always seemed so immature and annoying: he was always the one who screwed up, or said something stupid, or pulled some obnoxious prank."

"Yeah, that sounds like Naruto alright," Shikamaru said with a roll of his eyes.

"Yes, but lately he just seems…well, like I said: _different_. I mean, take the chuunin exams for example: he is supposed to be the weakest student in our class, but he takes out not only Kiba, but _Neji _too for Kami's sake! And from some of the stories Sakura's been telling me, it sounds like he's not as dumb as everyone thinks."

Shikamaru yawned, stretching his arms over his head in a bored fashion. "Well _obviously_, Ino," he said tiredly, ignoring the annoyed look on her face. "Naruto was _never_ the moron everyone made him out to be." Seeing her open her mouth in protest, he raised a hand to silence her.

"Don't get me wrong, he can be a real baka sometimes, but that's not what I mean. Naruto is very…'shrewd'. He's really perceptive, and has the most exhausting sense of determination I've ever seen."

"And when did _you_ become such a Naruto expert?" Ino asked skeptically.

At this, Shikamaru looked somewhat sheepish. Shrugging, he leaned his head back against the wall and contemplated Choji's door. "During one of our first years at the Academy, I was with him on the playground, and my dad caught me. He practically dragged me home, and I can remember him telling me to keep away from Naruto. He said he was the wrong sort of person to get involved with, and that I should keep my distance."

"So?"

"So it didn't make any sense! Naruto was fun to hang out with; he was funny, hated school _and_ girls," (Ino made a disapproving noise in her throat at this), "and I couldn't figure out what was so bad about him. I mean sure, he, Kiba, Choji, and I got into trouble here and there with Iruka-sensei for not paying enough attention in class, but that didn't seem like such a big deal. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out why my dad disliked him so much."

"And what did you come up with?"

Shikamaru shrugged with slight disgust. "I never could; there really was no reason that I could find, besides him being a little high strung and thick at times."

"Wow, I didn't know that you two such were good friends."

He pushed off the wall with a sigh, rolling his neck once to work out a kink. "We're not," he admitted with a shrug, "I did a lot of analysis during school, but I never actually hung out with him." '_But maybe I should have,_' he added silently, feeling slightly guilty as he recalled how few visitors the blond had received since checking into the hospital.

'…_Maybe I __**should**_…'

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_Phew, another chapter down. You know the drill, read and review!_


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